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Displacement has been an unfailing feature of recent Iraqi history. During the last thirty to forty years, substantial numbers of Iraqi civilians fled their homes compelled by war, uprisings, and government - directed policies of ethnic cleansing and systematic forced resettlement.
The US-led invasion of April 2003 began under the projection of mass displacement. Aid agencies and human rights organizations warned, and governments throughout the Middle East feared, that the invasion risked triggering a massive exodus of Iraqis. This, however did not materialize immediately. It did, however in subsequent years and with great force. As the security and political climate destabilized in Iraq, the violence that ensued triggered a massive wave of displacement, both within the country and outside. Iraqis found themselves forced to relocate in search of security. From conversations and interviews with Iraqi refugees in Europe and throughout the Middle East and those internally displaced within Iraq, it is clear that many dream to return to their homeland. Those who express hesitation fear they no longer belong in Iraqi society or risk targeting if they return. In either case, it is equally clear that the vast majority of Iraqis living outside of their homeland does not think that it will be safe enough to return in the near future.
Today it is not that Iraqis do not want to return home, it is that many cannot due to targeting or continued instability. Exile is no easier, asylum policies are often characterized by ambivalence. The process can be one of disorientation, disqualification and disintegration leaving one with stark questions of, “Who am I?”. “Who are We?”. Loss of identity, control of one’s environment and uncertainty of future compound the situation and must be addressed. offline:events in collaboration with independent Iraqi artists, filmmakers, and authors are documenting the lives of Iraqis navigating the space between home and exile.
Table of Contents
- A Letter from Heaven - By Jassim Mohammed
In my country you don’t know who your friend is; you don’t know who your enemy is. You walk in the street and you don’t know when you will die or for what reason. - A View from Within - Paintings by Waleed Arshad - Text by Deborah Amos (NPR)
One reason I won’t go back, is that I have to feel myself as a human being, and I can’t if I have to declare whether I am Shiite or Sunni. - Baghdad Offline - By Ziad Turkey
We are like this now: tottering voices in the void and there is no land to gather them. Baghdad is not and will not go back to how it was. - Until When... - By riverbendblog.blogspot.com
We were all refugees - rich or poor. And refugees all look the same - there’s a unique expression you’ll find on their faces- relief, mixed with sorrow, tinged with apprehension. The faces almost all look the same. - Trafficked Out - By Sheryl Mendez
When the body of her sister was dumped at the door of her Baghdad home, the life of Aishiq changed forever. It was 2003, and she was 12. - From Extinction to Formation Story - By Ali Bader
Easterners love Westerners more than the West, whereas Westerners prefer the East to Easterners. - While We Are Waiting... Voices from Exile - Quotes from refugeesinternational.org
They wanted to kill me, but killed my brother-in-law instead. After that, I knew I had to leave.
This publication is a project by offline:events media
- Editor: Sheryl A. Mendez
- Graphics and Layout: Karim Fael
- Contributors and Collaborators: Jassim Mohammed, Ali Bader, Ziad Turkey, Manuela Scebba, Elena Lo Nigro
- A special thanks goes to: Daylight Magazine and The Crimes of War Project and to Dina Fakoussa, Marianne Gimon, Alessandro d’Ansembourg, Jan Mun and Thomas Sommer-Houdeville for their support